LAUSR

Abstract A dual T1-T2 contrast agent for magnetic resonance imaging was developed based on ultrasmall superparamagnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles. The magnetite nanoparticles were synthesized with thermal decomposition method, then loaded on hydrophilic cellulose nanocrystals-poly citric acid nanoplatform. The high saturation magnetization value (52.2 emu g−1), considerable relaxivity parameters r1 (13.8 mM−1 s−1), r2 (96.2 mM−1 s−1), and appropriate r2/r1 (7.0) at 3.0 T demonstrated the significant enhancement effect of nanocomposite as a dual positive and negative contrast agent. In vitro cellular uptake study using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy, in vitro cytotoxicity up to 200 μg mL−1 Fe with HeLa cell lines and colloidal stability investigations revealed that the sufficient cellular uptake, excellent biocompatibility and low toxicity of nanocomposite which is promising for its biomedical applications.